Device for assisting in darning



March 15, 1938. e. F. CRUSHA 2,111,390

DEVICE FOR ASSISTING IN DARNING Filed Sept. 30, 1937 Patented Mar. 15, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE Application September 30, 1937, Serial No. 166,467 In Great Britain April 8, 1936 5 Claims.

This invention relates to a device for assisting a person when darning holes or tears in garments or fabrics, such as socks, stockings, sheets, curtains and the like, which device, which is gen erally known as a darning mushroom, consists generally of a piece of wood shaped in the form of a mushroom which is placed with its head underneath that part of the garment, hereinafter referred to as a sock, which it is desired to darn, the device maintaining the garment in a more or less rigid condition so that the movement of the needle to and fro is assisted merely in that the edges of the material round the hole are maintained more or less stationary and taut.

The main object of the present invention is not only to maintain the garment in a more or less stationary condition while darning is in progress, but also to assist in the up and down movement of the needle during the last part of the darning operation while the weft threads are being woven into the warp threads.

A'device according to the present invention comprises two members, a stationary member and a member wholly or partially surrounded by said stationary member and resiliently mounted within the stationary member, so that it is moved relatively to the stationary member by means of pressure from the needle during the darning operation. The upper or top surface of this resiliently mounted member is preferably smooth or susbtantially so, and the word smooth as used herein and in the accompanying claims with reference to said top surface is intended to indicate that it is substantially free of furrows, recesses, ridges, breaks or any interruptions of a character which might impede the passage of the advancing point of a needle thereover, in contact with such surface during a darning operation.

The resilient mounting may be effected by means of a spring positioned between the movable member and the stationary member so as to tend to keep the movable-member raised level with the stationary member. There may be in addition a further spring acting in the opposite sense between the movable member and the fixed member in order to increase the sensitivity of the device.

In one form of construction the device comprises a mushroom, the head of which comprises two members, one an outer stationary member, the other being an inner resiliently mounted movable member. The movable member is resting on or has anchored to its undersurface one or more coil or suitable springs or a substance that would fulfill the same purpose such as sponge rubber the other end or ends of which is or are suitably anchored to the outer stationary member. The inner and outer members are so formed that the inner member in its normal position lies approximately level with the outer member. 5 The outer member may be provided with a plurality of grooves or lines which may act as guides for the needle in order to assist in maintaining a straight cross thread, such grooves or lines being, if desired, provided on the inner member. 10

In the accompanying drawing:-

Fig. l is a plan of one form of device made in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan of a modified construction, and 15 Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

In the form of construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the device comprises a mushroom, the convex head of which comprises two members, one an outer stationary member a. wholly surrounding 20 the second inner member b which is resiliently mounted within a. The bolt 0 free to move up and down through the perforation in the base of outer member 0., passes through two springs and is screwed into the centre of the base of the inner 25 member 12.

The spring d acts as a cushion while the spring e keeps the inner member I) in the position as shown in Fig. 2. On pressure being applied to the top of inner member b this resilient member 30 would move downwards compressing spring e, the bolt head ,1 following the dotted lines in the cavity within the handle.

In order to use the improved device this latter is placed in the sock with its mushroom head 5 beneath the hole or tear in the sock and the needle is then passed over the device in a similar way as would be used in the case of a solid mushroom darner.

In another form of construction as in Figs. 3 and 4 the device is comprised of two members, one an outer stationary member a which only partially surrounds inner member b. Fig. 4 shows the handle, which is fitted with a container to hold needles and thread, a tube It holding needles and compartments a holding wool and the like.

In order to use this alternative improved device this latter is placed in the sock with its mushroom head beneath the hole or tear in the sock and the needle is then passed over the device, the slots or grooves g in the outer member acting as guides for the first threads (i. e. the warp). In order to facilitate the darning of the second set of threads, (1. e. the weft) running at right angles to the first set of threads slight pressure is exerted by the finger on the edge or top of the spring biased member I) so that this is caused to oscillate very slightly. This slight oscillation is such as will allow the needle to be passed directly across the first set of threads without it being necessary for the person using the needle to move the needle up and down as is usually done in darning, whilst still being able to make the needle go over and under the first set of threads.

The device according to the invention may be of any suitable shape and size and be constructed of any suitable material, for example the outer member may be of wood and the inner member of resilient material such as rubber, or the whole device may be of the same material and again may be, for example, of resinous material. The method of holding the inner member b in position might be by sponge rubber instead of a bolt and spring.

As an alternative arrangement, the device may be oval or pear-shaped in elevation, such a shape being particularly suitable when it is required to darn the heel or toe of a sock or like garment of fabric, Whilst if desired means may be incorporated in the device, which means act as retaining means for needles, wool or the like when the device is not in use.

It will be understood that the details of construction so far as concern more particularly the position of the resilient member and the fitting of the resilient member within the stationary member may be varied from the particular embodiment I have illustrated and described, this being only given by way of example.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

1. A device for assisting in darning comprising a stationary supporting member, and a second member having a substantially smooth top surface and being resiliently mounted within the supporting member and adapted to move relatively to the supporting member in response to pressure from the needle during the darning operation.

2. A device according to claim 1 in which the resiliently mounted member is partially surrounded by the supporting member.

3. A device according to claim 1 wherein grooves are provided on the supporting member to assist in positioning the threads during the darning operation.

4. A device according to claim 1 wherein the resilient mounting comprises two springs disposed between the resiliently mounted member and the supporting member and exerting substantially balanced, opposing forces between said members.

5. A device for assisting in darning comprising a cup-shaped stationary supporting member, a disc-shaped member mounted within the supporting member, a spring being provided between the base of the cup-shaped member and the discshaped member, the disc-shaped member being provided with a central shank on its underside, having a stud at its free end, a second spring being provided between the said stud and the underside of the cup-shaped member and a handle on the supporting member.

GERALD FI'IZWILLIAM CRUSHA. 

